Hensoldt to equip German NH90 helicopters with protection systems

by Olivia Savage

NH90 TTH (Janes/Paul Jackson)

Hensoldt will equip 82 NHIndustries NH90 Tactical Transport Helicopters (TTH) with its latest Airborne Missile Protection System (AMPS), the company announced on 21 January.

After the integration phase of the AMPS, the helicopters will be equipped within the framework of Germany's TTH Operational Revision (THOR) programme from 2025.

According to the company, AMPS is a protection system that can detect missile, laser, and radar threats, while automatically triggering targeted countermeasures. In its most basic format, AMPS can identify the exhaust of an incoming projectile and automatically activate decoys to interfere with the missile.

At the 94th session of the Defence Committee, a project was approved for a sample installation of the Hensoldt AMPS-MLR Electronic Warfare System on the German NH90 TTH. Proof flights with the Kalaetron on the Sikorsky CH-53 Stallion helicopter were held at the Defence Technical Service Centre for Information Technology and Electronics in June 2020.

Following a competition, decision-makers at the service centre, Airbus Helicopters, and the Bundeswehr, concluded that the AMPS system “represented the most future-proof concept compared to the competitors”.


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New Aselsan radar makes debut flight on F-16 aircraft

by Olivia Savage & Cem Devrim Yaylali & Raghuraman C S

A screenshot from an Aselsan video showing its new AESA radar in an anechoic chamber prior to flight trials aboard an F-16. (Aselsan)

Aselsan's new active electronically scanned array (AESA) Nose Radar has completed its maiden flight onboard the Turkish Air Force's (TuAF's) Lockheed Martin F-16 Block-30 fighter jet.

According to Aselsan on 26 March, the indigenously developed radar is designed to support both air-to-air and air-to-ground missions and offers capabilities such as multitarget detection and tracking, beyond-visual-range missile guidance, high-resolution imaging, and electronic warfare functionalities.

Commonly referred to as Murad, the Nose Radar is a key component of the Özgür programme, dedicated to modernising the TuAF's F-16 Block-30 fleet. The initiative involves integrating new indigenous software and hardware on the aircraft, including for the mission control computer, and replacing elements of the avionics and cockpit displays.

After successful integration of the Nose Radar on the F-16 Block-30s, the aircraft will become a 4.5-generation platform, according to the President of Defence Industry Agency (SSB), Haluk Görgün. İsmail Demir, then president of SSB, noted in November 2022 during an unveiling of the radar that its capabilities were “equivalent to the most advanced radars in the world”.


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Aselsan's AESA radar makes maiden flight

by Cem Devrim Yaylali

A screenshot from an Aselsan video showing its new AESA radar in an anechoic chamber prior to flight trials aboard an F-16. (Aselsan)

Aselsan revealed on 16 March that its domestically developed active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar made its maiden flight onboard a Turkish Air Force Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcon combat aircraft.

The test was performed on 15 February aboard a test aircraft that also featured a mission computer developed by Aselsan.

The radar was designed with gallium nitride (GaN)-based chip technology, and has capabilities such as automatic target recognition, multiple target tracking, terrain mapping, distance measurement, automatic altitude determination, under-cloud surveillance with synthetic aperture radar, automatic target classification with artificial intelligence-supported algorithms, wideband radar spectrum monitoring, directional electronic jamming, and more effective guidance for air-launched munitions. Technical specifications of the radar were not disclosed.

Aselsan general manager Ahmet Akyol announced that the radar will operate in manned platforms F-16 Özgür, Hürjet, Kaan, as well as the Akıncı, Kızılelma, and Anka-3 unmanned platforms.

For more information on Turkey's domestically developed AESA radar, please seeTurkish Air Force receives modernised F-16 aircraft.


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Silvus Technologies developing StreamCaster variant for small UAS

by Carlo Munoz

A Silvus Technologies StreamCaster MANET radio paired with an Echodyne MESA radar is demonstrated during a US armed forces readiness exercise. (Echodyne)

Mobile networking company Silvus Technologies is developing a pared down variant of its StreamCaster mobile ad hoc network (MANET) radio, specifically designed to provide networked radio communications capability for small unmanned aircraft systems (UASs).

Company officials are preparing to release “our next generation” of the small UAS-specific StreamCaster variant later this year, Silvus Technologies vice-president of sales Jimi Henderson said.

“We've seen that as a key and demand signal in the market and we're working to help address that gap” with the new variant, he told Janes . Henderson declined to comment on specifics of the new MANET radio variant.

However, he indicated that the new platform would likely feature a significantly smaller form factor, compared with the StreamCaster Lite 4200, which is currently the company's smallest offering in the StreamCaster family of systems.


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https://www.janes.com/defence-news/air-platforms/latest/hensoldt-to-equip-german-nh90-helicopters-with-protection-systems

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